The pickup truck is the motor vehicle of choice when it comes to moving items which must be loaded and transported a short distance. More and more it is seen that vehicles are equipped with sliding platforms that are permanently installed in the cargo carrying space are called upon for service of such freight.
It is not impossible that the vehicle in which the sliding platform is installed will be called upon to work on a sloping surface when it is desired to load or unload freight into or out of the vehicle. This causes the standard sliding platform to be difficult to move and when released the platform moves with such energy that in almost an instant it is in a “Runaway” condition. It is to solve situations such as the one described above that this invention was made.
The standard sliding platform is provided with several “hard” stops (at least two) located at points along its travel. These are points are set permanently by apertures in the stationary mounted hardware where the sliding platform essentially can lock into any of these apertures. When the handle of the sliding platform member is actuated to release the sliding platform, it is not known how much energy is going to be released or absorbed by the sliding platform and the freight it is carrying. It is left to the operator to “guess” the amount of energy contained by such a maneuver.
When freight is to be loaded, the load must be lifted up until it is placed on the sliding platform and the sliding platform is moved to its “stored” position, locked in place, where the freight may safely carried during periods when the motor vehicle is powered to move the vehicle and the load on the sliding platform.
When the load has reached its destination, it must be unloaded using the sliding platform mounted in the cargo carrying area of the vehicle. The operator generally searches out a level area on which he parks the vehicle, and proceeds to unload the freight. Often, there will be no level area available, and the operator has no choice but to unload the freight in the sloping area (although it may be most unsatisfactory). The operator will generally summon all the help he can obtain to unload the freight on the sliding platform. He instinctively knows that he will need help to steady the sliding platform and let down the freight gently from the extended sliding platform in the area chosen.
If there is no help available the operator has little choice but to unload the freight the best way he knows how. And that may involve damage to the freight or injury to the operator, both of which cannot be tolerated by management.